As Mount St. Helens gets covered in snow for the winter, that means the end of the season for the U.S. Forest Service Science & Learning Center at Coldwater Lake. The Mt. St. Helens Institute says the center will remain open daily from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through this coming Sunday before closing for the winter.

The exciting news is coming in the spring of 2027. The hope is that they will have the long-anticipated reopening of Spirit Lake Highway to Johnston Ridge. That would allow the U.S. Forest Service to move back into the observatory and reopen it to the public.